In the last year, a local surgeon helped guide two women through breast cancer’s three phases – diagnosis, treatment, recovery.

On Sunday, those cancer survivors, Lori Johnson, 43, and Sue Donnelly, 63, will help Dr. Amanda Kong, through three different phases – swimming, biking and running – the three legs of the Danskin triathlon in Pleasant Prairie.

In her journal, Johnson coined her experience “breast cancer: my athletic event” because much of her journey was about overcoming a negative mind set. A victory lap of some sort only seems fitting.

Almost every day for the month of January, Johnson and Donnelly sat together in a waiting room at Froedtert Hospital, where they were undergoing radiation treatment.

The two met in that waiting room and quickly turned a room of silence into a room of conversation, often talking about their active lifestyles.

Jim and Janine Boldra have been married 32 years, a figure that matches Jim's tally of Ironman triathlons.

The Menasha couple went beyond even that extreme earlier this month, competing in the Ultraman Canada. The race equates to two Ironman-distance triathlons spread over three days; a total of 318.6 miles.

Jim Boldra, 56, finished in sixth place out of a field of 32, covering the swim, bike and run in 27 hours, 13 minutes, 13 seconds.

The triathlon previously known as the Spirit of Racine has become one of 40 Ironman 70.3 races in the World Triathlon Corporation fold, and will attract top pro competitors on Sunday with a prize purse of $30,000.

When the move was announced late last year, 70.3 Racine Race Director Ryan Richards said: "Ironman is excited to be developing another world-class triathlon in Wisconsin in 2010. Expanding on the community relationship formed during the Spirit of Racine Triathlon and working with the great people in the Racine area to ensure a safe and successful race will be a top priority."

The race has attracted an international field, including Craig Alexander, an Australian and 2008 and 2009 Ironman World Champion, and Luke Bell, a multiple winner in Ironman 70.3 events.

Another Austrialian, Kate Major, will be one of the favorites in the women's race.

Competitors in the 70.3 - or half-Ironman - will swim 1.2 miles along the North Beach, bike 56 miles on county roads and run a 13.1 course along the shoreline and through the Racine Zoo.

In a still-brutal economy, members of the Rockwell Automation Triathlon Team don’t get and don’t expect company-paid jerseys, swim caps or entry fees.

They do get a wave of their own.

“That’s kind of nice,” said Steve Bettwy, the team organizer, a triathlon veteran and operations manager for customer service.

It helps to have 40-strong registered for the sprint-distance Pewaukee Triathlon that starts at 6:30 a.m. Sunday in Pewaukee Lake. The group will hit the water all at the same time, providing a bit of camaraderie and support to a sometimes nerve-wracking element of the triathlon.

Last year, the Rockwell group numbered 16, mostly from Bettwy’s own department.

The E. coli contamination in Pewaukee Lake has dissipated enough for the beach to open Thursday and the Pewaukee Triathlon to include a swim segment on Sunday.

Organizers were preparing to add a second running leg to the popular race before hearing the good news on Thursday. Tests showed the bacteria levels had dropped well below the danger threshold, according to a Pewaukee parks official.

The beach was closed on June 24 because E. coli levels exceeded 1,000 colonies per 100 milliliters of water. Samples taken on Wednesday contained roughly 100 colonies per 100 milliliters.

The lake water will be checked again on Thursday, with results expected on Friday to confirm the triathlon will be raced as scheduled.

Roughly 1,300 participants will start at 6:30 a.m., taking to the water in waves of 50, spread out by several minutes.

Sally Edwards, an icon in the multi-sport world, carries the well-deserved title of Chief Inspiration Officer at the Trek Women Triathlon events she helped found.

Set to line up for the race in Pleasant Prairie on Sunday, Kristin Molldrem deserves strong consideration for the role of first mate.

The mother from West Allis plans to finish 38 different charitable events in 2010 - from bike rides to walks to triathlons - nearly all of them near the back of the pack.

“I’m out there to finish them and to finish them with anybody who might think they can’t,” Molldrem said. “If they’re afraid they’ll be last, I’ll stay out there and wait to finish with them.”

It’s a generous approach borne from a bout with cancer, a heart condition and a life-affirming decision to change the person she saw in the mirror eight years ago. At the time, Molldrem was 28, recovering from cervical cancer surgery, and 215 pounds.

Organizers of the Pewaukee Triathlon and close to 1,300 registered participants are hopeful the water will clear before the race on Sunday. If not, the triathlon will become a duathlon, with a second running segment replacing the swim.

The Pewaukee Lake swim area used for the upcoming triathlon remained closed on Tuesday because of the E. coli contamination that has fouled the water since heavy rains hit the area on June 21 and 23.

Test results on new water samples should be available on Wednesday, giving the Park and Recreation Department and the Pewaukee Triathlon organizers an idea of whether the beach will be open on Sunday.

Gloria West, the race director and operator of Midwest Sports Events, said an additional running segment would be added if the swim portion has to be eliminated. That has been done in the past when conditions kept swimmers out of the water.

Jorgensen gained more than two minutes on the race leaders over the finishing 10K run segment and surged into second place overall Sunday, in a talented group of potential triathlon stars. Her 31:35 time on the run was easily the fastest of the 50 athletes, and nearly propelled her into the lead.

Jorgensen, a Waukesha native now living in Milwaukee, swam for her first three years at UW, then turned her full attention to running. She earned All-American honors in cross-country and the 5,000 meters.

The original version of this story published Wednesday morning included a wrong date for the Hoyt Park Pool Open House. It is scheduled for Wednesday night from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.,

I was surprised enough to find out that a retired Milwaukee police detective – now living in Wauwatosa – was one of the 12 men to finish the very first Ironman triathlon that some of the remarkable details of his story struck me as only logical.

Of course Dave Orlowski wore cut-off jeans over his swim suit for the 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run segments. How else would he keep money in his pockets to fuel up on food and drinks at gas stations, grocery stores and a McDonald’s.

Biking just 30 miles, total, in his training for that test-the-limits challenge was reasonable, since he borrowed a 10-speed Sears Free Spirit only a week before the race.